List of Lower Columbian parliaments

The Parliament of Lower Columbia is the legislative branch of the federal Government of Lower Columbia. It is composed of the Federal Assembly, the lower house; the Council of States, the upper house; and the King. New parliaments begin when they are officially opened by the King after a general election and can sit for up to five years. The number of members in each house of Parliament varies depending on the population distribution between the states and the total number of states; when all seats are filled, there are currently 512 Assemblymen and 112 Councilors.

A total of 76 parliaments have sat since the Constitution of Lower Columbia was adopted in 1715. The current Parliament, the 76th, was opened on 16 February 2015. The following list presents all 76 parliaments chronologically, and includes each parliament's duration, government, and opposition. The earliest parliaments sat before the organization of political parties, and therefore lack information on their governments and oppositions. Governments are required to hold a majority of seats in both houses, and may therefore consist of multiple parties if no single party has a majority of seats. However, governments only had to hold a majority of seats in the Assembly during the 18th century; control of both houses simultaneously was not required until the 19th century. Where more than one party is listed for either the government, third-party opposition parties, or both, they are listed from most to fewest seats held.

Notes

↑The diagrams show the composition of each parliament, color-coded by party (click on an image to see its key). The Council's composition is shown to the left of that of the Assembly for each parliament; the Opposition's composition is shown above that of the Government.

↑Lower Columbia had no organized political parties before 1754. Therefore, the first eight parliaments consisted entirely of non-partisan members.

↑The Tory and Democratic parties were Lower Columbia's first political parties, first fielding candidates in the general election of 1754. While independents continued to be elected to Parliament (albeit in dwindling numbers), these two parties dominated Lower Columbian politics and exchanged control of the 9th-21st parliaments.

↑The admission of Nicholasia as a state in 1765 added seven new members to the Council, beginning with the general election of 1767.

↑In the wake of the Multnomah scandal, the Democratic government lost a vote of no confidence (the first to be taken in Lower Columbian history), triggering the early dissolution of the 13th Parliament.

↑The admission of Klamath as a state in 1780 added seven new members to the Council, beginning with the general election of 1782.

↑Although the Tories had a majority in the Council during the 17th Parliament, they had only a plurality in the Assembly. Therefore, they had to form a coalition government with enough independent MPs to gain a majority. This left the Democrats and a number of other independent MPs in the opposition. The coalition was increasingly unstable over the term of this parliament, and the party leaders asked King Nicholas to dissolve Parliament and call early elections in an attempt to resolve the growing deadlock.

↑In the spring and early summer of 1803, growing disagreements between Democrats led to the government losing a vote of no confidence, bringing the 21st Parliament (as well as the Democratic Party itself) to an early end.

↑After the 21st Parliament was dissolved, the Democratic Party split into two new parties, the Whigs and the Liberals. These two parties formed the Second Party System, which dominated national politics in the first half of the 19th century and controlled the 22nd-35th parliaments. The Tory Party dissolved late in the 21st Parliament's term and so did not participate in any later parliaments.

↑The admission of Serpentia as a state in February 1810 added seven new members to the Council. The general election in Serpentia was synchronized with the rest of the country, despite statehood not having been officially granted yet, so that the future state would be represented in the 24th Parliament.

↑The Whigs had only a plurality in the Council during the 26th Parliament, and therefore formed a coalition with the recently-formed Frontier Party to avoid having to form one with the Liberals.

↑The admission of Bitterroot as a state in 1815 added seven new members to the Council, beginning with the general election of 1817.

↑The admission of Oregonia as a state in 1822 added seven new members to the Council, beginning with the general election of 1826.

↑In the 29th Parliament, the Whigs controlled the Assembly, but the Liberals controlled the Council. They were therefore forced to form a coalition, although it was rather unstable.

↑In the 30th Parliament, the Liberals controlled the Assembly, while the Whigs controlled the Council. They were therefore forced to form a coalition, much like during the previous parliament. This coalition was even less stable than the previous one, and came to an end when its members could not pass a budget for 1838.

↑The Whigs held only a plurality of seats in the Assembly in the 32nd Parliament, so they formed a coalition with the Frontier Party.

↑In the 33rd Parliament, the Liberals formed a coalition with the Frontier Party, due to their having only a plurality of seats in the Assembly.

↑In the summer of 1855, the Liberal Party split into three factions, which ultimately resulted in their government losing a vote of no confidence, bringing the 35th Parliament to an early end. Two of those three factions then formally split into the Royalist and Republican parties, which went on to dominate national politics until 1887.

↑In the 37th Parliament, the Royalists held only a plurality in the Assembly, and so formed a coalition with the Liberals.

↑In the 38th Parliament, the Republicans held only a plurality in the Council, leading them to form a coalition with the Liberals.

↑The annexation of Upper Columbia in 1862, and its subsequent admission as a state, added seven new members to the Council. It also led to the legal doubling of the size of Assembly districts, beginning with the general election of 1863.

↑In the 40th Parliament, the Royalists controlled the Assembly, but the Republicans controlled the Council. They were therefore forced into an unstable coalition, which ultimately collapsed in May 1874.

↑Lower Columbia's political union with Saint Catherine in 1883 and the annexation of Gudland in 1887 resulted in the Council's membership expanding by 35, and the Assembly's membership by 117, with both changes taking effect with the general election of 1887. It also indirectly led to the nascent Progressive Party's first national victory, as well as the accompanying demotion of the Republican Party to minor party status.

↑In the 47th Parliament, the Progressive Party held a majority of seats in the Assembly, but the Conservative Party held a majority in the Council. They were therefore forced to form a coalition, which was highly unstable and collapsed during its third session.

↑In the 48th Parliament, the Conservatives controlled the Assembly, while the Progressives controlled the Council. They therefore formed another coalition, and although it was more stable than the previous one, it still collapsed after suffering a loss of supply.

↑The annexation and admission of Calgariana and Edmontonia as states in 1913 added 14 new members to the Council, beginning with the general election of 1916.

↑In the 52nd Parliament, the Progressive Party controlled the Assembly, but the Conservative Party controlled the Council. They were therefore forced to form a coalition, which eventually suffered a loss of confidence.

↑In the 53rd Parliament, the Conservatives controlled the Assembly, while the Progressives controlled the Council. They therefore formed another coalition, which collapsed during its fourth session.

↑In the 55th Parliament, the Progressives controlled the Assembly, but the Conservatives controlled the Council. They therefore formed a coalition, which was unstable and eventually collapsed.

↑In the 53rd Parliament, the newly-formed Libertarian Party controlled the Assembly, while the Progressive Party controlled the Council. They therefore formed a coalition.

↑In the 60th Parliament, the Conservatives held a majority in the Council, but only a plurality in the Assembly. They therefore formed a coalition with the Libertarians.

↑In the 62nd Parliament, the Conservatives were supported by the Libertarians in the Council, where they lacked an absolute majority. This de facto coalition was never made official, but was widely recognized as such at the time.

↑In the 63rd Parliament, the Libertarians, who held a majority in the Assembly, formed a coalition with the Conservatives to wield a majority in the Council.

↑In the 64th Parliament, the Progressives controlled the Assembly, but the Libertarians controlled the Council. They therefore formed a coalition, which ended when the government called early elections.

↑In the 66th Parliament, the Libertarians controlled the Council, but relied on the Conservatives to form a majority in the Assembly as a coalition.

↑In the 67th Parliament, the Progressives held only pluralities in each chamber. They therefore formed a coalition with the Libertarians, which ended with a vote of no confidence.

↑In the 68th Parliament, the Libertarians, who only held a majority in the Assembly, formed a coalition with the Conservatives to create a majority in the Council.

↑In the 69th Parliament, the Conservatives held a majority in the Council, but only a plurality in the Assembly. To form a majority government, they formed a coalition with the Libertarians.

↑In the 72nd Parliament, the Libertarians controlled the Council, but lacked a majority in the Assembly. They therefore formed a coalition with the Conservatives.

↑In the 74th Parliament, the Conservatives held only pluralities in each chamber. To form a working government, they established a coalition with the Libertarians.

↑The 75th Parliament was dissolved after the Libertarian government's proposed budget failed in the Assembly.

↑In the 76th Parliament, the Conservatives are short of majorities in both the Assembly and the Council. Their coalition with the Firsties gives them a slim majority.